To a lot of people, the only kind of bat that is acceptable in their home is Batman. Any other bat is completely out of the question. It’s not the bats fault though; their bad reputation could be attributed to tons of bad publicity in Hollywood with vampires and the infamous saying, “They’re in my hair! They’re in my hair!” They’re not evil demons, despite their popular image. They can, though, be a nuisance in your home. Just because they aren’t blood-sucking monsters, doesn’t mean they are allowed to fly in and hang from your garage beams.

There are about one-thousand known species of bats, but only ten suck the blood of another mammal. Mostly, bats feed on insects and fruits, so, with that said, you should probably take care of that insect problem. A lot of pests feed on other pests, so that is a common solution to a lot of problems. Less than half of bats have rabies, so if you come into contact, you need to practice caution for your own safety. You should probably get a professional to get rid of a bat, but if you need to handle it yourself, grab a small container to capture it and release it in the wild. If you have to grab it with your hands, use heavy work gloves.

Bats are a solution to your bug problem, but a hassle to your bat problem. Just close up any spot that would be a good place for a bat to hibernate, and you should be just fine.